Timely Hitting, Defense Propel Huskies Past Rye

For the third time this season, Harrison and Rye faced off against one another to re-ignite their always-bitter rivalry.

The teams split the first two match-ups, with Rye winning the first game at home in extra innings and Harrison winning at home 5-1. Both of the previous games were close until the end -- and with two seniors starting on the mound today it was expected to be another close game.

On the mound for the Huskies was the team's ace, Zack Eklund. He lost to Rye earlier in the year, but throughout the season he has accumulated some fine numbers. In six starts this year Eklund has pitched 40.1 innings with a 2.95 earned run average and 35 strikeouts.

On the other side of the field was Rye's starting pitcher, Christian Fumasoli. The senior has also had a fairly successful season -- in nine appearances the right hander is 3-3 with an earned run average of 4.02, and in 40 innings pitched Fumasoli has collected 34 strike outs.

The game clearly pitted two evenly matched opponents up against one another for the first-round playoff game.  

Rye got out to an early 1-0 advantage, but the Garnets would continuously hurt themselves by making errors in the field and blunders on the base paths. Each error the Rye fielders made proved to be costly and caused Fumasoli to throw more pitches every inning.

The Rye pitcher only lasted four innings, giving up three runs on four hits.

Harrison did a good job on both the base paths and at the plate to take advantage of everything Rye was giving them, and at the end of the sixth inning Harrison was up 9-2.

Even though he had already thrown over 100 pitches in six innings of work, Harrison's Eklund went out to start the seventh inning in hopes of turning in a complete game. But the starter lost some control and velocity. The Rye batters either walked or hit the ball hard, and Eklund loaded the bases in the seventh.

Even though he was not at his sharpest late in the game, Harrison's senior would get a little help from third baseman Mike DeLacy. Reacting to a hard drive, DeLacy dove to his left to pick the ball off the dirt and toss it to his teammate for the force-out. Had DeLacy not picked the ball cleanly, there was a good chance several runs would have scored.

"The ball was hit really hard and I just reacted," said DeLacy. "I got a good read of the ball off the bat, and I just timed it right and made the play."

After DeLacy got the second out for the Huskies, Eklund again loaded the bases and this time the Harrison Coach pulled his starter. Eklund jogged off of the mound to cheers and a standing ovation from the Harrison crowd, and the Huskies turned the ball over to another senior, Goh Ogura.

Ogura only faced one batter, but the Rye player laced a ball over right fielder Ryan Mustacato's head. Three runs came into score on the drive, and the batter tried to stretch a double into a triple. But Mustacato fielded the ball cleanly off the outfield fence and threw it to short stop Michael Jacobson, who then relayed the ball perfectly to DeLacy at third base, collecting the final out of the game and ending the contest 9-7.

"Ryan came off the bench and made a perfect throw to Jacobson," said Marco DiRuocco, Harrison's coach. "We practice the relay system a lot and they executed it well."

At the end of the day Harrison's Zach Eklund pitched 6 2/3 innings, giving up seven runs off of four hits and seven walks. Eklund also accumulated eight strikeouts and threw an unusually high 145 pitches, 36 of which came in the seventh.

"We are so proud of him," DiRuocco said. "He came out with the fire and inspiration we needed him to. He was around the plate all night and he was very effective. He kept the hitters off balance and he got great defense behind him. If we do that, then we're going to be effective."  

"I was in the zone today, I felt like this was a payback game for me because they beat me last time I pitched against them," said Eklund. "I got great defense from the guys behind me, especially in the in field."

With the win by Harrison and Tappan Zee's upset victory over Eastchester, the Huskies will get to play a home game on Saturday against Tappan Zee at 1 pm.